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Stewart Pollens served between 1976 and 2006 as the conservator of musical instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he restored and maintained a collection of over five thousand instruments. He is the author of over eighty scholarly articles and four books, including Forgotten Instruments (1980), The Violin Forms of Antonio Stradivari (1992), The Early Pianoforte (1995; reprinted 2009), Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù (1998), François-Xavier Tourte: Bow Maker (2001), and Stradivari (2010), which won a 2011 Choice award for 'Outstanding Academic Title'. In 1997 he was the recipient of the American Musical Instrument Society's Nicholas Bessaraboff Prize for The Early Pianoforte, a study of the invention and early history of the pianoforte. He is also a contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and writes frequently for The Strad.
'As usual with Pollens's writings, this [book] is impeccably researched and thorough ... [It] provides a reliable guide to various materials and techniques, from moulding to soldering and dealing with chemical treatments and solvents. It has the potential to improve and develop all techniques, and help us to understand and handle materials and methods with greater confidence. Few of us will ever have to tackle the problem of bronze disease on a bugle, but it's nice to know I now have access to that information, not far away from the immediately helpful entry on 'cleaning: soaps and detergents' ... I am very happy and grateful to be able to add [this book] to my reference shelf ...' John Dilworth, The Strad 'The Manual of Musical Instrument Conservation is a clearly written and practical guide to a complex subject, with an abundance of useful photos illustrating the techniques described. Anyone involved in preserving a historic musical instrument will undoubtedly want to keep this book in a handy location on their bookshelf, in the same way Pollens must have done for his 'shop notebook' during his tenure at the Metropolitan Museum.' Robert Adelson, Notes As usual with Pollens's writings, this [book] is impeccably researched and thorough ... [It] provides a reliable guide to various materials and techniques, from moulding to soldering and dealing with chemical treatments and solvents. It has the potential to improve and develop all techniques, and help us to understand and handle materials and methods with greater confidence. Few of us will ever have to tackle the problem of bronze disease on a bugle, but it's nice to know I now have access to that information, not far away from the immediately helpful entry on 'cleaning: soaps and detergents' ... I am very happy and grateful to be able to add [this book] to my reference shelf ... John Dilworth, The Strad 'The Manual of Musical Instrument Conservation is a clearly written and practical guide to a complex subject, with an abundance of useful photos illustrating the techniques described. Anyone involved in preserving a historic musical instrument will undoubtedly want to keep this book in a handy location on their bookshelf, in the same way Pollens must have done for his 'shop notebook' during his tenure at the Metropolitan Museum.' Robert Adelson, Notes
Making Poor Man's Guitars
Cigar Box Guitars and Other DIY...
Paperback
$35
Not in-store but you can order this
Against the Grain
An Instrument Maker's Journey
Paperback
$59.95 $51.16
Not in-store but you can order this
